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Time for reflection

Ian Cumberland’s work is feted — but does he even like painting

Pavel Barter

July 17 2016, 12:01am, The Sunday Times

Surface tension Mirror Stage, by Ian Cumberland

A cul-de-sac in a housing estate close to Craigavon Area Hospital hardly feels like a hotbed of ­artistry. Yet this suburban backwater is where Ian ­Cumberland, one of Northern Ireland’s most exciting ­artists, lives and works. Painting has given him a career, but whether it gives him pleasure is another matter. He always wanted to be in a band, Cumberland confesses in his office, where guitars nestle among the large canvases.

It’s understandable. Music offers instant gratification, while a single painting can take months to complete. He gestures towards one such work, entitled Distance, in which a woman lies on a carpet, lost in reflection. The detail in the carpet is striking, but the artist describes the process of painting it as tediously boring. Maverick…